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VANCOUVER — In the heady hours and days afterward, an Olympic gold medal is your passport — a VIP card and front-row ticket to a five-ring smorgasbord for the senses.

Only later does it morph into a powerful endorsement opportunity.

And Canada’s newly minted podium-toppers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who are an on-ice dance couple only, are canny enough to realize that when a door swings as wide open as this one has for them, the smartest medallists can see fore and aft. They might not know exactly where they’re going beyond the ISU world championships in March and a full Stars on Ice victory tour as Moir put it this summer, but they are wise enough even at ages 20 and 22 to keep one hand on the medal and with the other hold onto some much needed perspective by remembering where they have been and exactly how they arrived.

Their Olympic moment was never going to be about cashing in, it was all about paying back and paying homage to all the sacrifices and staggering financial commitments from two families through more than a decade, the patient and undying support of friends who might have wanted more attention, and the expertise of coaches past and present. And they stressed all those important pieces of their message again Tuesday.

Moir even admitted paying his respects to the Pacific Coliseum, the scene of Monday’s stunning free dance, the spine-tingling medal ceremonies, Moir’s Lambeau-like Leap into the arms of brothers Charlie and Danny, and his joyous, boisterous rendition of O Canada.

“Tessa was in doping and I was kind of just hanging out and waiting. I always wanted to kiss the rings,” said Moir. “I felt I owed something to that rink. Yeah, I just kind of got down on my knees and thanked whatever powers were in that rink and gave us such strong performances. I think I actually French-kissed the ice. I didn’t think I would. But I was there for so long. My face was wet.”

Moir, from Ilderton, Ont., is definitely drinking it all in as their lives change on the fly, the roller coaster ride reaches one peak of many to come, and they are in high demand. They have already spoken to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and met the Mayor of Vancouver Gregor Robertson and the Premier of B.C., Gordon Campbell. Moir also got a call from Edmonton Oilers head coach Pat Quinn, which stands as a major thrill, even though Moir is a Leafs’ fan.

Virtue, from London, Ont., called it a whirlwind and it will be buffeting them this way and that awhile. They do not yet have an agent as such, Virtue said, but they have surrounded themselves with people they trust and the word ’opportunities’ is flashing through their minds now. And how could it not? They’re Olympic gold medallists with incredible charm, solid moral fibre and fabulous looks. They are a marketing dream.

So I asked the cereal box question Tuesday morning and Moir ran with it.

“Cereal box question is very easy,” he said. “I had a great group of friends and I feel very lucky to have had such a great group. They always kept me on the straight and narrow path, kept me away from all the peer pressure things that high school kids go through, drugs, alcohol, that stuff. They made sure I was on the path even if they weren’t.

“I had one buddy who always said to me, ‘I can’t wait to see you on the Wheaties box.’ So I want to be on that Wheaties box and I want to take that Wheaties box to him. Those guys believed in me so much, you had to believe in yourself.”

That guy was Brad Funston.

“Yeah, we used to joke about it all the time, all through high school. That’s when I started eating Wheaties,” chuckled Funston.

He did indeed have complete faith in his friend.

“Never doubted it for a moment. We’ve just been waiting for this.”

It has been in the wind since Virtue and Moir won the junior worlds in 2006. They had already been together for almost a decade at that point, having joined forces, and hands, at ages seven and nine. Moir was a gangly, funny kid who wanted to skate fast and play hockey. Virtue was a shy figure skater who had a crush on a boy she wouldn’t even begin to talk to for two years. Moir figured it out first, that the relationship was going to work, at least for him.

“Something really changed in my life when I started to hold onto the hand of a very beautiful little girl and it just seemed to make more sense to hang out with a cute girl than to hang out with 19 other guys.”

It still makes sense. But this is where all the planning ended for them. They trained like fiends in Canton, Mich., for four years, spurred on by that world junior success, and this was the end point.

“As far as we’re concerned, everything stops now,” said Virtue. “This is as far as we’ve gotten in our minds. It’s weird not knowing but it’s also very exciting.”

If they stay together they might well be medal contenders in Sochi four years from now. For now, that they followed through here is a comfort to themselves, to Skate Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee and perhaps the nation. They felt a sense of responsibility to deliver a medal and they just went out and got the job done. That makes them even more endearing.

“It wasn’t like we were going into yesterday thinking, ‘Oh well, if we just blow this we can just come back in another four years,’ ” said Moir. “You never know what’s going to happen in life. We had this opportunity in our home country and we wanted to take advantage of it.”

A Radio-Canada reporter has been arrested for alleged criminal harassment while pursuing the subject of a story. According to Radio-Canada, reporter Antoine Trépanier was arrested Tuesday night by Gatineau police. He was released on a promise to appear in court. Trépanier was called by Gatineau police Tuesday evening and an officer requested that he come […]

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